James JACKSON, Congress, GA (1757-1806)

JACKSON, James, (father of Jabez Y. Jackson and grandfather of James Jackson [1819-1887]), a Representative and a Senator from Georgia; born in Moreton-Hampstead, Devonshire, England, September 21, 1757; emigrated to Georgia in 1772 and located in Savannah; served in the Revolution with the Georgia State forces; studied law and built a lucrative practice in Savannah; several times elected to the state legislature; elected governor of Georgia in 1788 but declined; planter; elected to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791); contested the election of Anthony Wayne in the Second Congress and the seat was declared vacant by the House of Representatives March 21, 1792; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1793, until his resignation in 1795; again a member of the State legislature; Governor of Georgia 1798-1801; was again elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1801, until his death in Washington, D.C., March 19, 1806; interment in the Congressional Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Lamplugh, George R. “Oh The Colossus! The Colossus!: James Jackson and the Jeffersonian Republican Party in Georgia, 1796-1806.” Journal of the Early Republic 9 (Fall 1989): 315-34; Foster, William. James Jackson: Duelist and Militant Statesman. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1960.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present